Wiper support for lasting machine



Dec. 8, 1959 M. WEISZ 2,915,763

WIPER SUPPORT FOR LASTING MACHINE Filed April 18. 195? I Jfio'endar Jam! 27. P119515 United StatesPatent O p 2,915,763 1C6 Fatented Dec. 8, 1959 WIPER SUPPORT FOR LASTlNG MACHINE Thomas A. Weisz, Plymouth, Mass., assignor to Jacob S. Kamborian, West Newton, Mass.

Application April 18, 1957, Serial No. 653,620

11 Claims. (Cl. 128.3)

This invention relates to lasting machines and more especially to an improved wiper support for the same.

The principal object of the invention is to provide wiping means for laying the lasting margin of an upper down flat against the shoe bottom, after it is released from the stressing instrumentalities, under a pressure which is substantially uniform throughout the entire lasting operation. Another object is to provide wiping means which will make it possible to lay the lasting margin down under a pressure which is not only substantially uniform but is also consistent with optimum spreading of an adhesive earlier applied to the margin and/ or bottom. Another object is to provide wiping means which will make it possible to apply a substantially uniform pressure and also selectively to increase or decrease the pressure according to the viscosity of the adhesive at the time of lasting. Other objects are to provide a mounting for the wiping means which is easy to adjust and make available a wide range of pressures.

The invention is herein illustrated in conjunction with a lasting machine of the kind wherein there is a pair of cooperating rolls which grip the lasting margin of a shoe held up thereto and advance the shoe peripherally, an applicator for applying adhesive to the margin as it issues from the rolls and a rotary wiper for laying the margin down against the bottom. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is equally applicable to nonrotary wipers.

In accordance with the invention there is means mounting the wiper on the frame adjacent the lasting instrumentalities for heightwise movement relative to the bottom of the shoe, which means affords a reactive resistance to the heightwise pressure produced by the upward thrust of the shoe against the wiper, which is substantially uniform throughout a predetermined range. The aforesaid means comprises a bearing block in which the wiper is mounted, which is secured to the protruding lower end of a piston contained in a cylinder block, the latter being pivotally mounted on the frame for tilting about a horizontal axis parallel to the shoe bottom. Air under pressure is supplied through a suitable conductor to the other end of the piston and there is a pressure regulator in the conductor together with a gauge by which the pressure may be controlled. The heightwise movement of the wiper is controlled by adjustable screws. Angular adjustment of the wiper in a horizontal plane about an axis coinciding with that of the piston is permitted by turning of the piston within its cylinder. Angular adjustment in the horizontal plane is fixed by an eccentric secured to the wiper which has a part engaged with a second piston contained in the cylinder block, spaced from and parallel to the first.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of one side of the machine showing the wiper adjacent the discharge side of the lasting rolls;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view of that portion of 2 the machine adjacent the feed rolls and Wiper, showing a shoe held up thereto with a portion of its lasting margin engaged between the feed rolls and another portion laid down by the wiper;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section to much larger scale, showinng the wiper support;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is shown in conjunction with the lasting machine which forms the subject matter of pending application for United States Patent Serial No. 529,247, filed August 18, 1955, in the name of Jacob S. Kamboria'n and Thomas A. Weisz. This machine has a frame 10 supporting a pair of converging shafts (Fig. l), to which are fixed downwardly tapering feed rolls 12 and 14, which are adapted to grip the lasting margin In of an upper (Fig. 2) assembled together with an insole or equivalent bottom member s, on a last L, so that the margin may be progressively stressed heightwise of the shoe bottom around a part or the entire periphery of the bottom. The aforesaid machine has also a hold-down 16 for guiding the shoe bottom in a plane substantially parallel to the lower ends of the rolls, an applicator nozzle 18 for supplying liquid adhesive to the shoe bottom and/or inside of the lasting margin just as it leaves the rolls and a wiper 20 for folding the lasting margin inwardly against the bottom, which is shown herein to be forwardly tapering and to have on its peripheral surface a helical rib.

The wiper 20 is mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis in a bearing block 22 (Figs. 1 and 3), which is provided with suitable bearings for receiving the shank of the wiper. A portion of the shank extends rearwardly from the bearing block for connection to a suitable flexible driving element 23 and a heating element 25 is incorporated in the block by which the Wiper may be kept hot if desired.

The bearing block 22 is supported with the wiper 20 projecting forwardly therefrom, adjacent the rolls 12 and 14 (Fig. 1), for movement about a vertical axis perpendicular to the plane of the shoe bottom and parallel to the axis of the roll 12 and for tilting movement about a horizontal axis parallel to the shoe bottom and at right angles to the axis of the roll 12 by a support 24.

The support 24 (Fig. 1) is mounted on the machine frame 10 for tilting movement on a screw bolt 26 secured to the frame. The angularity of the support is controlled by an arm 28 containing a slot 30, a threaded socket 34 pivotally connected to the arm 28 by a pin 32 engaged Within the slot 30 and an adjusting screw 36 threaded through a fixed bracket 38 on the frame and pivotally secured at its inner end to the socket 34. A keeper 40 may optionally be secured to the frame 10 with a portion overlapping the support 24.

The support 24 is a cylinder block and contains a pair of spaced parallel cylinder bores 42 and 44 therein (Fig. 3), extending from end to end. The upper end of the cylinder block is covered by a cap 46 fastened thereto, which has in its underside a recess 48. The recess bridges the upper ends of the bores and affords a chamber between the cap and the upper ends of the pistons located therein, as will subsequently appear. The cap has in it a threaded port 50 within which is secured a nipple 52 by means of which a flexible conductor 54 may be connected to the cap for supplying air under pressure to the upper ends of the cylinders. In one of the cylinder bores, the right-hand one as shown in Fig. 3, there is slidably mounted a piston 56 having bearings 5757 at its upper end and bearings 59-59 at its lower end which support the piston for vertical sliding movement therein. The lower end of the piston protrudes from the lower end of the cylinder bore and has connected to it the bearing block 22.

The side wall of the cylinder block 24, adjacent the outer side of the cylinder bore 42, has a vertically extending slot 69, which parallels the axis of the cylinder bore, through which extends a pin 62 which is fixed to the piston 56. In alignment with the ends of the slot 6t) are two adjusting screws, a lower one at and an upper one 66. These screws are threaded through portions of the cylinder block 24 so that their opposed ends provide limit stops for controlling the vertical movement of the piston 56 in either direction. The slot 60 (Fig. 4) is made Wider than the pin 62 so that the piston 56 and hence the wiper bearing block 22 secured thereto may be turned about the axis of the piston to afford angular adjustment of the wiper in the horizontal plane. Turning movement of the piston is very small so that even in its extreme position the pin is not moved out of the range of the screws 64 and 6-6.

The other cylinder bore 44 contains a piston 68 which has at its upper end bearings 7l71 and at its lower end a bearing 72. Unlike the piston s, however, this piston terminates short of the lower end of its cylinder bore.

An eccentric 74 (Fig. 3) having offset eccentric arms or cranks 76 and '78 is adjustably fastened to the bearing block 22. As shown, its lower arm or crank 76 is threaded into the bearing block 22 and may be fixed therein in any desired angular position about its vertical axis by means of a lock nut St). The upper arm or crank 73 which is longer than the lower arm extends upwardly into the lower end of the cylinder bore 44 into contact with the lower end of the piston 68. The upwardly extending portion of the arm 78 passes through a guide 82 which is slidable horizontally in a recess 86 (Fig. 5), formed in the cylinder block at the lower end of the cylinder bore 44. A coiled spring 88 is seated between the inner end of the recess and the guide so as normally to bias the guide in a direction away from the axis of the piston 56, thereby to hold the arm steady in its position of eccentricity.

Air under pressure is supplied to the upper end of the cylinder block through the port 50 to the upper ends of the cylinder bores and hence to the upper ends of the pistons therein. Such air is available in most plants or if not may be supplied by means of a motor driven compressor. A pressure regulator PR is interposed in the line 54 together with a gauge G so that the operator can selectively vary the pressure supplied to the cylinders.

The pressure supplied to the cylinder bores operates on the upper ends of the pistons 56, 58 to force them downwardly within the cylinder bores. The lowermost position of the piston 56 and hence of the wiper is limited by contact of the limit pin 62 with the lower stop 64. its upward movement is limited by the limit pin 66. The lower end of the piston 68 which has contact with the upper end of the eccentric arm 78 helps to balance the pressure on the bearing block 22, without interfering with the angular adjustment of the block by way of the eccentric.

By maintaining a uniform pressure at the upper ends of the pistons which may be done by setting the pressure regulator PR so that pressure of a predetermined amount is delivered thereto, it is at once evident that the resistance of the wiper 29 to an upward thrust applied to it during the lasting operation will be substantially uniform throughout the range of vertical movement allowed between the limit pins 64 and 66. The pressure is kept constant as the pistons are pushed upwardly by upward thrust on the upper by an adjustable high fiow rate relief valve V in the line 54. Because of this it becomes possible for the operator to change the pressure applied to the lasting margin during the lasting operation. In other words, if the operator lifts upwardly on the shoe, which would ordinarily increase the pressure if the vertical position of the wiper was fixed, the wiper merely yields upwardly and since the resistance to yielding is uniform the yielding movement does not increase the pressure unless, of course, he reaches the upper limit of movement and continues to push upwardly. In the same way if he tends to lower the shoe the wiper follows it and continues to apply substantially the same pressure as long as he pushes the shoe upwardly with suflicient force to keep the pin 62 out of contact with the lower limit.

This uniformity of pressure is not easily obtainable by means of springs and the like, such as have been used heretofore, because of the fact that as the springs are shortened their resistance to pressure increases. Compensation for this characteristic is difiicult and impractical because such adjustments are seldom availed of by an operator. In contrast the present pneumatic means requires no adjustment other than at such times as it may be desirable to increase or decrease the resistance to pressure within the range for difierent weights of upper material and/or viscosity of the adhesive and this may be easily affected by adjusting the pressure regulator PR until the right pressure is indicated on the dial of the gauge G.

It becomes possible through the use of the aforesaid means to insure application of uniform pressure to the lasting margin throughout the entire periphery of the shoe regardless of the contour of the bottom, that is, deep shanks and abrupt changes in shank to forepart contour which tend to result in unintentional increases and decreases in pressure as the shoe is moved relative to the wiper during the lasting operation. It also makes it possible to adjust the pressure so that it is less possible for an operator to force the shoe upwardly so hard against the wiper that a large part of the adhesive is squeezed out and thus results in an incomplete and/ or unsatisfactory bond. In fact by reason of the provision for adjusting the pressure it is possible to correlate the pressure with the 'viscosity of the adhesive so that just the right pressure may be exerted for spreading the adhesive without squeezing it out and to change the pressure quickly to compensate for temperature variations from time to time which may change the viscosity of the adhesive.

While the novel mount for the wiper as shown herein is used in conjunction with a rotary wiper such as shown in US. Patent No. 2,438,917, granted April 6, 1948, to Jacob S. Kamborian, it is evident that it is equally useful for the so-called stationary wipers, that is, the non-rotary wiper as shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,251,284, granted August 5, 1941, and 2,438,918, granted April 6, 1948, to Jacob S. Kamborian and that it is not necessarily confined in its use to a machine employing the lasting rolls for effecting the stressing of the lasting margin as herein illustrated, but may be employed with great advantages in any lasting machine where a wiper is employed for folding and pressing a lasting margin against a shoe bottom after it is stressed and released by appropriate lasting elements.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means for pressing the lasting margin against the shoe bottom, means supporting the wiping means for movement heightwise of the shoe bottom and pneumatic means operable to obtain uniform resistance to heightwise displacement of the wiper throughout its range of heightwise movement.

2. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means for pressing the lasting margin against the shoe bottom, means supporting the wiping means for heightwise movement, said means including a cylinder block containing a piston chamber and a piston slidable thereinto which the Wiper is secur d, means for connecting the chamber to a source of fluid at a constant pressure, and means operable by displacement of the piston in a direction to increase the pressure to maintain the pressure within the chamber constant.

3. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means for pressing the lasting margin against the shoe bottom, means supporting the wiping means comprising a chamber, a stem slidable in the chamber, said stem having a protruding portion to which the wiper is secured, and means for supplying air to the chamber at a constant pressure.

4. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means, means supporting the wiping means comprising a pressurized chamber, a stem slidable therein, and having a protruding portion to which the wiper is secured, means for maintaining the pressure within the chamber constant including an inlet port in said chamber and a connection for coupling the port to a source of constant pressure, a relief valve for permitting pressure to be relieved when the stem is displaced in a direction to increase the pressure in the chamber and means for selectively varying the pressure in the chamher.

5. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means, means supporting the wiping means comprising a pressurized chamber, a piston slidable in the chamber having a protruding portion to which the wiper is secured and an eccentric operable to change the angular position of the wiper about the axis of the piston regardless of its heightwise position.

6. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means, means supporting the wiping means comprising a pressurized chamber containing spaced parallel cylinders, a piston in each cylinder, one of said pistons having a protruding lower end connected to the wiper and an eccentric secured to the wiper for turning about an axis parallel to the axis of said one piston, said eccentric having contact with the lower end of the second piston.

7. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means for operating on the bottom of a shoe held up to the instrumentalities, a supporting block mounting the wiper for rotational movement about its longitudinal axis, and means yieldably supporting the block for heightwise movement and movement about an axis perpendicular to the bottom of the shoe, comprising a pressurized chamber, a pair of pistons slidable in the chamber, sliding movement of the pistons in one direction being opposed by the pressure within the chamber, means connecting one of the pistons to the supporting block and an eccentric connected to the block at a place spaced from the axis of the first piston, said eccentric having abutting contact with the second piston and being operable to swing the block angularly about the axis of the first piston.

8. A lasting machine according to claim 2, wherein there is adjustable means mounted on the cylindrical block confining the heightwise movement of the wiper between lower and upper limits.

9. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means movable heightwise of the shoe bottom, a cylinder having closed and open ends and an axially extending slot in its wall, a piston in the cylinder, a source of pressure, means connecting the closed end of the cylinder to the source of pressure, said piston having a portion projecting from the open end of the cylinder and connected to the wiper, a pin carried by the piston projecting through the slot in the wall and adjustable means at the ends of the slot for limiting axial movement of the pin in the slot.

10. A lasting machine according to claim 9, wherein the slot in the cylinder wall has spaced parallel sides wide enough to permit angular displacement of the pin about the axis of the piston to permit angular displacement of the wiper.

11. In a lasting machine, lasting instrumentalities including wiping means, a bearing block mounting the wiping means for rotational movement about its longitudinal axis, a pressurized cylinder block containing a pair of cylinder bores open at their lower ends, pivotally mounted for tilting about an axis at right angles to the axis of the wiper, a pair of pistons movable in the cylinder block in the plane of the axis of the wiper and perpendicular to the axis of tilting of the cylinder block, means connecting the bearing block to the lower end of one of the pistons for swivel movement about the axis of the piston to which it is connected, a crank connected at one end to the bearing block with its other end engaged within the lower end of the other piston, and a slidable guide bearing carried by the cylinder block through which a portion of the crank extends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,577,446 Brown Mar. 23, 1926 2,438,917 Kamborian Apr. 19, 1949 2,597,004 Jorgensen May 20, 1952 2,712,659 Paulsen July 12, 1955 

